Refrigerator-cooling means



Dec. 29, 1925- -1,567,730

M. s. GROH REFRIGERATOR COOLING MEANS Filed Feb. 4., 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' Dec. 29, 1925 1,567,330

M. S. GROH REFRIGERATOR COOLING MEANS Filed Feb. 4, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I1 I 21 Lq-S.

Patented Dec. 29, 1925.

UNITED, STATES 1,567.736 PATENT OFFICE.

MELVIN SOLOMON GBOH, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO JOSEPH MERCADANTE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

REFRIGERATOR-COOLING MEANS.

Application filed February 4, 1924. Serial No. 690,622.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MELVIN SoLoMoN GRoH, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of the city of Toronto, in the county of York, in the Province of Ontario, Canada. have invented certain new and useful improvements in Refrigerator- Cooling Means, of which the following is the specification.

My invention relates to improvements in refrigerator cooling means and the object of the invention is to devise a cooling element comprising a liquid refrigerant container into which all the liquid refrigerant will enter from a fluid controlled valve together ,with any surplus lubricating oil that may be carried into the system from the pump in such a way that any of the oil that may congeal at the valve due to its becoming cold will on the stopping of the circulation of the refrigerant warm up and flow away from such valve.

A further object is to devise means for securing circulation of the refrigerant liquid to the float chamber of the valve by the reduction of pressure of the gas that flows into the float chamber along with the liquid refrigerant due to a reduction in temperature of such gas by the metal contact of the float chamber with the cold pipe of the cooling element.

A still further object is to devise means for obtaining the cooling eflect in the cooling element without the necessity of the refrigerant liquid being fed under pressure throughout the entire length of such cooling element.

Another object is todevise means whereby the admission of the liquid refrigerant to the liquid refrigerant container is eflected while such liquid is traveling upward and yet' another objeet is to devise removable ice making means embodied in the cooling means which will utilize a portion of the cooling element capacity and which when removed will enable the proportion of the cooling element capacity so used to be used for increasing the cooling effect.

My invention consists of refrigerator cooling means constructed and arranged all as hereinafter more particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

F 1 represents a ertical section thr ugh Fig. 5 is a perspective detail showing the liquid container and cooling tubes applied to an ice-cream container.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the float controlled valve showing it applied to the liquid refr gerant container.

Fig. 7 is a perspective detail of the rack forll supporting the removable ice containers, an

r Fig. 8 is a perspective detail of one of such containers.

Like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different views.

1 is the-llquid-refrigerant container provided with the longitudinal horizontal bafileplate 2. 3 are depending loop tubes communicating at their upper end with the refrigerant container 1, said tubes being preferably spaced apart and positioned in the vicinity of one side of the interior of the refrigerator 4. 5 are hollow fins on each loop tube 3 preferably being secured thereto by being brazed or soldered so as to homogeneously connect the fins to the tubes. 6 is the casing of the valve and 7 is the fluid chamber thereof provided with a cock 8 in its top.

9 is the cold pipe formed integrally with the valve casing and connected at its upper end to the liquid refrigerant container 1. The lower end of the cold pipe/9 is provided with the valve 10 adapted to seat on the seat 11. The stem 12 of the valve 10 is pivotally connected to one end of the intermediately fulcrumed lever 13, its other end being pivotally connected to the float 14 which is capable of vertical movementin the float chamber 7 depending on the level of liquid therein.

15 is a passage-way connecting the cold pipe 9 with the float chamber 7. 16 is a liquid refrigerant pi eby means f which the liquid refrigerant in the system is adapted to flow into the float chamber 7. 17

is an outlet pipe from the liquid refrigerant container 1.

In the modified cooling element illustrated in Figure 4 it will be noted that the loop tubes 3 are disposed in a plane running through the longitudinal axis of the liquid refrigerant container 1 and a single hollow fin 1s used connected to the respective loop tubes.

In the form illustrated in Figure 5 in which the cooling elements are shown in multiple for use with ice-cream containers, instead of fins 5 circular hollow containers 18 are provided. the loop tubes being then of spiral form and homogeneously connected to such containers 18. In this case the liquid refrigerant containers 1 are mounted on the sides of the containers 18.

The hollow fins 5 or the containers 18 are adapted to contain a freezing liquid such as water or brine so that when the machine is operating, the suction pressure of the system will not drop below that necessary to freeze the water or brine until it is practically all frozen, thus extracting latent heat from the water or brine and permitting the system to function to a more efficient suction pressure. The frozen brine thaws and absorbs heat long after the machine has stopped.

The pipes 16 and 17 are respectively connected to the condensing chamber 22 and pump of the refrigerant apparatus. The lat ter is not shown or described as it forms no part of the present invention I prefer to use, however, the apparatus disclosed in my co-pendim applications for refrigerating machines erial Number 533,905, filed February 3, 1922, and pumps, Serial Number 533,906 filed February 3, 1922.

lVith the liquid refrigerant that flows from the condensing chamber to the float chamber 7 there is a certain proportion of refrigerant gas which on entering the float chamber is reduced in pressure due to its decrease in temperature owing to the metallic contact of the cold pipe 9 with the float chamber casing with the result that some of the gas is condensed which tends to make the pressure in the float chamber 7 lower than that in the condensing cham ber 22 and thus induces a flow of gas and liquid refrigerant from such condensing chamber 22 to the float chamber 7.

The float chamber 7 also serves to accumul'ate any air or foreign gas that may happen tobe in the system. This entrapped air or gas may then be purged out of the system by opening the pet cock 8 without losing much of the refrigerant gas.

Upon the level of the liquid in the float chamber 7 rising it raises the float 14 and consequently opensthe connected valve 10, permitting the liquid refrigerant to flow upwardly through 1, the cold pipe 9 into the liquid refrigerant container 1 and when the height of liquid falls the float falls correspondingly, closing such valve.

As the cooling effect is produced in the cooling elements which consist of the liquid refrigerant container 1,. depending loop tubes 3 and the attached fins 5, the liquid refrigerant in the tubes efi'ervesces, the bubbles of gas rising into the liquid refrigerant container 1 wherein such gas is dispelled from such liquid refrigerant container 1 through the plpe 17 into the pump, due to its suction, The baflle plate 2 in the liquid refrigerant container 1 is so constructed as to permit .the gas to pass around it and flow into the upper side of such container, from whence it is expelled as above stated. This baflie plate is preferably constructed of a material that Wlll be attacked by any acid that may be in the refrigerant, neutralizing the same, and, if desired, an additional acid neutralizing material may be inserted into the container, such as the corrugated plate 19. The most prevalent acid found in the preferable refrigerant, which is sulphurdioxidc, is sulphurous acid and in this case the baflie 2 and the plate 19 will be constructed of iron.

Such baflle plate also serves to stop the liquid refrigerant from splashing up and bemgcarried out of the pipe 17 with the outgoing gas.

The racks 20 are adapted to be inserted between the tubes 3 if desired, and upon these racks are placed the containers 21 which are adapted to contain water which is frozen when the system is "in operation and thus provide means for making ice for domestic purposes. Obviously it would be possible to freeze any other goods if placed on these racks instead of the water containers 21. When these water containers are not in use it .will be apparent that the cooling effect produced by the cooling elements will be increased and can be used for cooling the refrigerator.

From the above description it will be seen that I have devised a simple and effective cooling means for refrigerating machines in which the congealing of any surplus lubricating oil that may get into .the system from the pump will be prevented from choking the valve 10 by its congealing about the same, due to the fact that such liquid refrigerant is fed into the cooling element in an upwardly traveling direction and thus the oil will float up through the cold pipe 9 into the liquid refrigerant 1, lying'on the top of the liquid refrigerant therein and being carried off in small globules with the outgoin gas that is drawn through the pipe 17. n addition I have devised means for making ice for domestic purposes, in thecooling element, that Wlll only decrease the cooling effect of such cooling elements when the ice is beingmade in direct proportion to the amount being made.

Moreover I have devised cooling means that will effect an increased cooling effect for the quantity of refrigerant used and in which the refrigerant will not be compelled to traverse the entire length of all the coils but will be fed independently into each loop tube directly from the liquid refrigerant container'due to thefact that .the refrigerant in the tube efi'ervesces and becomes gas which rises through the remaining liquids in the, tubes into such refrigerant contalner.

It wi1l be readily seen that my cooling element permits an entirely free circulation of the air in the refrigerator as 'Well asexposing large areas of cold surface to the circulating air. y

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In refrigerating cooling means, a cooling element compnsmg a container adaptedto hold liquid refrigerant, individual tubes substantially U-shaped, their open ends connected to the'contalner, and members homogeneously connected to said tubes, said memers being hollow and adapted to be .filled with liquid.

2. In refrigerating cooling means, a container, adapted to contain liquid refrigerant with acid forming properties, and a bafile disposed horizontally in the container and fill ng substantially the entire length of said container, said bafiie having both of its sides out of contact with the inner surface of the container, said baflie being constructed of material adapted to neutralize the acid form d from said liquid refrigerant.

3. n refrigerating cooling means, a container adapted to contain a liquid refrigerant with acid forming properties, and a baffle in the container, said baffle being constructed of material adapted to neutralize the acid formed from said liquid refrigerant.

MELVIN SOLOMON anon; 

